October 25

Our final destination today and the terminus of our trek up the Tennessee River is Chattanooga TN. More specifically we will pass through downtown Chattanooga and about 6 miles beyond by water to lockup through Chickamauga Lock which is the second highest lock on the Tennessee River. Judy and I have easily mastered the locking process by ourselves. The locks on the Tennessee River have floating bollards which you simply pull up beside and loop the line around and cleat it off to the boat. The bollard floats up the side of the lock with your boat attached to it. Sometimes the lock design lends itself to letting the water in very fast and the stern or the bow tries to bang into the lock wall but we generally have enough fenders out to protect the boat. Any way our final destination is only 15 miles away as the "crow flies" but it is 40 miles by water. Remember the "switchbacks" going up the side of a mountain--well there are lots of switchbacks in this portion of the river. As we leave Hale's bar marina the mountains and cliffs and bluffs start to rise majestically along the river banks. At one point when traversing one of the bends in the River I could see mountains and cliffs in in every direction. The trees are just beginning to turn. Just a hint of color amongst all of the trees and then every once in a while a lone tree showing all of its fall beauty. They say there are more than 300 species of trees around Chattanooga only to be outnumbered by someplace in China. Perhaps on our return trip down the River in a few days we will be blessed with fall foliage splendor. Today was without a doubt the most scenic day on the River. It was chilly but mostly sunny. A jacket or sweatshirt felt good Each section of all the Rivers has its own character and beauty but this area we have traveled through today has to be special. The bypassing of downtown Chattanooga was intentional today. There is a place to dock your boat and visit the area, but we will do that after our visit to Atlanta. Our arrival at Chickamauga marina above the lock was uneventful however, someone was in our assigned space, so we are at the backside of the fuel dock. The marina is first class and full! Not much space for us transients. An Alumni looper from the class of 2003-2004 (Hallelujah), helped us dock. We had no more than stepped out of the boat and he offered us his car to go to town for groceries! We will be renting a car to tomorrow so we declined, but otherwise we might have accepted his offer. No other looper boats here, so Judy and I cooked steaks on the grill.